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Libraries > Digital Exhibits > Conquering the Ice > Air Exploration
Exploration from the Air
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Harold June, Commander Byrd, and Bernt Balchen,
in front of the Fairchild airplane, “Stars and Stripes.”
Richard E. Byrd Papers, #7764_13.
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Schematic of
the Fairchild.
Richard E. Byrd Papers, #7774_2.
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Three airplanes were transported
to Antarctica. The first, a three-engine Ford, was to be used for the
long flight over the South Pole. Byrd named this plane the “Floyd
Bennett,” in honor of his pilot on the North Pole Flight. Bennett died of
pneumonia in 1928, a year after he had sustained serious injuries in a
test flight of the “America.” The second plane was a one-engine Fokker
named the “Virginia.” This plane was to be used for rescue and
exploration. The third airplane, the “Stars and Stripes,” was a
one-engine Fairchild and had large windows to be used in aerial
photography. |
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Victim of the wind’s fury, the Fokker after it was destroyed by a
blizzard at the base of the Rockefeller Mountains, 1929.
Richard E. Byrd Papers, 7763_4.
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Crew members dig out the “Floyd Bennett”
from its snowy hangar, 1929.
Richard E. Byrd Papers, #7763_18. |
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The planes had to be assembled once the expedition
reached Antarctica.
This image shows Byrd and his dog Igloo,
unpacking
crates, with the City of New York
and the Bolling in the
background, 1928.
Richard E. Byrd Papers, 7773_18.
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